Steven Van Zandt, guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, did The Rascals a huge service by writing, directing and producing "The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream," the touring stage show that stopped Tuesday at F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre.

Had the 1960s band reunited and gone back out on the road after 40 years apart, it surely wouldn’t have had the right forum – forced to present its music on the ill-fitting oldies circuit or in tiny venues to small audiences familiar with its groundbreaking and influential music.

Instead, Van Zandt’s production, which had a short run on Broadway and is headed back, both puts The Rascals in its deserved context and reintroduces it to a broader audience.

And the music, at least much of it, holds up well these years later. So does the band.

The 110-minute show (plus a 20-minute intermission) was a career-spanning offering of 30 songs spliced with more than a dozen big-screen interviews and recollections by the band’s members, archival footage and even actor re-enactments that told the band’s story.

It touched on how band members met, how The Rascals formed, how it progressed and even how it broke up.

Felix Cavaliere

Those interludes were the needed addition to songs that, in some cases, were released nearly 50 years ago.

Most of the most still sounded good. For example, the band’s first single, “I Ain’t Gonna Eat My Heart Out Anymore,” from 1965 featured one of singer Eddie Brigati’s best performances of the night. “If I Know You” showed the band at what it did best, merging 1960s soul with rock and pop.

Songs on which keyboardist Felix Cavaliere sang were also strong. “Too Many Fish in the Sea” found him in a good soul voice.

There were weaker moments. The opening “It’s Wonderful” was too nostalgic, and the long-show format – the most complete concert the band has ever done – meant some lessor songs were included to help explain the story.

Brigati wasn’t as strong on “Baby Let’s Wait,” and some of the more experimental and psychedelic excursions sounded dated – especially “Away Away” and the trippy “Find Somebody,” with the lyrics’ goofy positivity, the over-serious “It’s Love” and the Latin-flavored ”Sueno.”

But even some of the distinctly-1960s period music held up. On “What is the Reason,” Brigati sang, eyes squeezed shut, as if overtaken and carried away. “Slow Down” clearly showed how The Rascals influenced the music of later artists.

The songs wouldn’t have been nearly as successful had it not been for the band members’ abilities and intensity.

Brigati, forefront, and drummer Dino Danelli

Brigati, looking like Van Morrison, often got caught up in the spirit – hopping and skipping on “Hold On.” Guitarist Gene Cornish stuck poses and took solos on songs such as “Come On Up” that were neither flashy nor groundbreaking, but showed good guitar doesn’t always have to be.

Same with drummer Dino Danelli, who was strong and sharp, but apart from sometimes twirling his sticks to play with both sides rarely was flashy – instead content to make the songs their best.

Even the spoken interludes seemed heartfelt, especially when members talked about their love for each other and reverence for their abilities. Even when addressing the breakup, which they blamed on an industry that didn’t look out for them, Brigati sounded conciliatory for being the one who walked away.

Of course, the payoff was the bands’ hits. “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” played early, show Cavaliere at his vocal best. “A Girl Like You” had a half-dozen people in the audience -- about two-thirds capacity – up and dancing.

The first notes of “Groovin’” got a cheer, and “It’s a Beautiful Morning” was among a half-dozen songs that got at least partial standing ovations. One of those was “How Can I Be Sure,” which was Brigati at his best. After it, he told the appreciative crowd, “I love you forever. Forever. Thank you … The Rascals.”

Guitarist Gene Cornish, front, and Cavaliere

And “Good Lovin’” was the band at its best – especially Cavaliere, whose organ in the song is one of the great keyboard riffs of all time.

The show closed with an extended “People Got to Be Free,” the 1968 classic that was the band’s last big hit. It was great and heartfelt, with Cavaliere describing its upbeat and positive approach coupled with protest-song lyrics as “all our feelings came spilling out in one song.”

It mixed in two later minor hits, “A Ray of Hope” and “Heaven” before being reprised for the closing.

After band introductions and thanks, the group returned for an encore of “See,” a 1969 song that barely made the Top 30, but featured Cornish’s flashiest playing of the night.

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.